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Life is sometimes sort of okay because...

Started by House of Usher, 23 March, 2009, 05:17:47 PM

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Barrington Boots

Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 24 November, 2020, 11:36:44 PM
As for the mouse situation, I just checked the traps down in the bilge and they were the only ones with dead mice in them, so I put down five more traps.  I felt like a right bastard, I have to say - the only things I've knowingly killed in my adult life have been mosquitoes and other bitey insects.  Even the wasps I just trap and throw out.  Spiders I used to hate but now like, and I let them stay and do their bit for pest control.

I've been in a similar situation to this and also felt awful, but I'm assured it's very quick with the traps.

My Dad was a science teacher and lived in that weird space between having a lot of love and respect for animals but also being incredibly practical when it comes to killing them. I remember him finding a nest of baby mice in his hat in the garage once and very gently picking it up and carefully putting it down on the lawn. I asked what would happen to them and he said something would eat them within the hour.

I also didn't know that about snakes being venemous. I've been bitten by snakes probably dozens of times: it doesn't hurt really but it's a huge shock because of how fast they are when they strike. They hang onto you too. 
You're a dark horse, Boots.


TordelBack


TordelBack


Professor Bear

"I was born a snake handler and I'll die a snake handler."

Barrington Boots

They'll have to prise those snakes from my cold dead hands.
You're a dark horse, Boots.

Barrington Boots

I used to keep them when I was in my 20s: initially because I was all edgy and it scored points with a certain type of girl, and then once I fell down the reptile-owning rabbit hole I got fascinated by them and graduated from corn snakes up to full boa constrictor. Sometimes you have to wiggle their food around to get them to go for it and a slow snake handler can easily get bitten, which is negligible when the snake is small and bloody horrible when the snake is huge.

The end of the snake-keeping started when my now-wife introduced me to cat ownership. Despite both being species of 100% bastardry, cats are more affectionate and generally more fun, and although snakes are lazy they escape pretty much all the time which isn't ideal when a snake vs cat encounter will almost certainly end in death for one party.
You're a dark horse, Boots.

The Legendary Shark

[move]~~~^~~~~~~~[/move]




JayzusB.Christ

"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

Dandontdare

I agreed to look after a friend's snake once while they were on holiday and it seemed a very boring pet. All I had to do was check the heat lamp daily and defrost and feed it a mouse once a week. After eating, it wouldn't move for days, and it wasn't exactly lively or interactive the rest of the time. She later confessed she felt the same - once the novelty wore off it was all maintenance with little reward.

She swore the Tragic Heat Lamp Failure of Winter '09 was a freak accident, but ...

JayzusB.Christ

Traps are all empty this evening.  I don't want to jinx it, but maybe, just maybe, I've won this freakin' war. 
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

Barrington Boots

Unless... they're learning.

"How could they cut the power, man? They're animals!"
You're a dark horse, Boots.

JayzusB.Christ

Quote from: Barrington Boots on 27 November, 2020, 09:07:19 AM
Unless... they're learning.

"How could they cut the power, man? They're animals!"

Well, that was weird.  Six of them just jumped up on the table, stood in a ring and sort of plaited their tails together, then started typing a Notepad document on my computer.   Turns out they just wanted to say I was a prick for killing their mates, and they don't want to live with a filthy scumbag like me anyway.  Then they fucked off with themselves to another planet and killed everyone on it.
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"